Whispers in the Dark
by Kaia-Rhea
Summary: What if Warren hadn't died in hospital? What if he'd survived, and had become more violent then ever? Rated T for abusive themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter one**

_Despite the lies that you're making, _

_Your love is mine for the taking._

_My love is just waiting,_

_To turn your tears to roses._

* * *

><p>When Warren developed Deep Vein Thrombosis and crashed, it was a pretty close deal. He'd nearly died, but with one last shock from the defibrillator paddles, his heart-rate monitor had coughed back to life, drumming out a strong, dull rhythm. Most of the Emergency Department staff felt a sense of relief in knowing that Kirsty's husband had pulled through- except Adam, that is.<br>No, the consultant felt an odd pang of regret as, through his own actions, a man whom he hated with all his soul had survived the ordeal. Did Warren deserve to die? No, perhaps not. But in Adam's eyes, the man who had for so long beaten and tormented the woman he loved should not hold the right to live in the same existence as her, never mind breathe the same air as she did.

As he looked down upon the immobilised man before him, surrounded by monitors and covered in wires, he bit the inside of his mouth to stop himself from doing or saying something he'd later regret.  
>If his suspicions were correct, then Kirsty would not hesitate to go back to him.<p>

They would go right back to where they started, as if nothing had changed.

* * *

><p><em>Four months later<br>_Kirsty Clements bit her lip as she made the ten minute walk back from the bus stop to her house. During this time she was never quite sure on what to do; Slow down and have a little more time to think properly at the risk of provoking _his _rage for being late, or speed up, and have to face him sooner without having to worry that he would become suspicious of her- because suspicions always lead to anger.  
>More often than not, she sped up. But more often than not, he'd find a reason to be angry at her regardless of this.<p>

She'd started wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt under her scrubs at work, if only just to avoid the constant stares of curiosity at the patterns of bruising blossoming up her arms and the concerned questions from her oblivious colleagues.  
>The only exception to this bubble of ignorance was Adam, who was still causing major problems for her. As much as she tried to persuade herself that it was just because he cared about her, it was becoming more and more difficult for her to hide her irritation that had long ago welled up inside her mind due to his constant interrogation of her.<p>

"I've told you, Warren is a _changed man_!" She would insist, quickly becoming exasperated by the sceptical look plastered on his face. "Honestly Adam, everything's fine at home." She'd force a nowhere-near relaxed smile over her lips. "Couldn't be better."  
>Needless to say, he didn't believe her, instead making every effort to catch her during at time when she felt most vulnerable, and therefore most likely to let her guard down.<p>

Unfortunately for him, Kirsty had long ago learned that letting her guard down could only ever lead to more trouble.

* * *

><p>"Warren?" She called through the house as she hung her coat up and dropped her handbag on the coffee table in the lounge. "Nita?" Her fourteen year old daughter left her room to give her mother a hug.<p>

"Hey, mum." Kirsty made herself smile at her teenager.

"Hey, sweetheart. How's you dad been?" Nita flinched at the word 'dad', as if she were offended by the thought that anyone could refer to that man as her father.

"He's been in a bad mood ever since I came back from school. He tried phoning you, but it went to answer phone." Kirsty bit her lip nervously. She'd left her mobile in her locker during her shift to avoid getting awkward phone calls in front of her co-workers. As Nita mumbled something about having homework to finish and trailed back to her bedroom, she steeled herself and made her way into the kitchen.

"Warren?" She repeated. Her husband looked up from the kitchen table where he was sitting with a daunting expression lingering on his face.

"You didn't answer your phone earlier. I was worried."

"I know, I'm sorry. I had to leave my phone in my locker."

"Had to?" He rose from the chair, placing a hand on the wooden table to steady his balance. Kirsty found herself nervously watching that hand, a tool of domination that she had grown to fear so much. "They aren't the boss of yer." He continued as he limped towards his wife, ignoring her attempt to help him. "The only person who can tell _you _what to do," He was now close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her cheek. "Is _me_."

"Oh come on Warren, you know I could lose my job If I'm not careful. D'you really want us to lose our main source of income?" He grabbed hold of her upper arm in one hand, and the collar of her long sleeved shirt in the other, pulling her close.

"Well at least then I wouldn't have to worry about you runnin' off with that _Adam_." He spat. Kirsty tried to pull away as his grasp began to hurt her already battered arm, but he only strengthened his hold on her.

"Please Warren, you're hurting me," She gasped. "I won't do it again, honestly!" It wasn't in Kirsty's personality to beg or plead, but the more scared she became, the more likely she was to resort to it to try and avoid whatever violent act he planned to carry out on her. She was a strong woman, yet the man who once loved her made her feel so very weak.

"No, it bloody well won't!" He agreed, glints of rage glistening in his eyes. He pushed Kirsty in the chest with such force that she fell back to the floor. Standing over her, with one fist raised, he spoke again. "I'll make sure of that."

* * *

><p>Despite what she had repeatedly told Adam, things at home hadn't improved in the slightest since Warren's accident. If anything, they had worsened drastically.<br>He was more violent, and constantly used what he had been told by his mother in the hospital about Adam and Kirsty as a trick to make her feel guilty.  
>He also didn't appear to care so much about where he hurt her, either. The fact that his brutality left marks in places where other people could see them didn't appear to worry him, and this worried Kirsty. If he wasn't afraid that someone would call the police on him if they found out what he was like, did that mean he wasn't afraid to beat her so badly that she could wind up badly hurt? Hospitalised? <em>Dead?<em>

* * *

><p>"Mum?" Nita popped her head round her mother's bedroom, eyes widening slightly as she caught a small glimpse of the damage Warren had caused to Kirsty's delicate skin. She dropped her shirt quickly, looking at her daughter in the mirror she had been inspecting her injuries in.<p>

"Hey, sweetheart. Are you alright?" Nita nodded, and sat on the edge of the double bed her parents shared, and for a minute or two the only sound that could be heard in the room was the rhythmic ticking of the alarm clock. Kirsty joined her teenager on the bed, wincing only slightly as the pain in her damaged ribcage increased.

"Why do you stay with dad?" She asked. Kirsty bit her lip. She had anticipated that Nita would eventually ask this question, but no matter how many times she had rehearsed the answer in her head to perfection, she was still lost for words when the time came to use them. Sighing, she turned to look her daughter in the face. Her pale eyes resembled Warren's more than her own, but while hers still contained a healthy spark, his had become dull and piercing over the years.

"I know it's hard for you to understand." Kirsty began. "But when you're older, you'll find it easier to."

"No, I won't! I'll never understand why you were so happy to leave him before the accident but you won't now... It doesn't make any sense!" The nurse's mind flashed back to something Warren had said just moments before he fell down the stairs.  
><em>You promised you wouldn't leave me... So why would you leave me? <em>He had been crying almost as much as his bloodied and bruised wife at the time, and if it weren't for the fact that he'd had her forcefully pinned up against the door, she _might _have even felt sorry for him.

After a long period of silence, Nita stood up and left the room again, leaving her mum to figure out an answer that could only ever make sense to her.

"Because I have to." She finally whispered, with no one to listen.

* * *

><p>It didn't take a radiologist for Kirsty to know that at least one of her ribs was fractured.<br>But as the beatings became more frequent, she found that she was unable to determine whether the bones had even had the time to begin their process of healing before Warren and his violent ways did something to injure them again.

Having broken ribs made pretty much everything a lot harder to do. Getting dressed, walking briskly and bending down to pick something up were all things that were agonisingly painful for her; so naturally being a nurse in an A&E Department during these times was a complete nightmare for her.

In a way, it almost pained Kirsty that her colleagues -bar Adam of course- were so ready to accept her lame and overused excuse that she'd 'pulled a muscle' time and time again, but with all the drama going on around them she felt she could hardly blame them for it.  
>Once or twice, she could have sworn that she'd noticed Tess watching her with a look on both concern and uncertainty on her face , as if she wanted to ask her fellow nurse something but was too unsure of whether her suspicions were correct to make the move.<br>A small part of Kirsty's mind almost wanted her to ask those questions, if only to know that someone other than Adam had actually noticed how badly she was broken. Then again, even if Tess _did _ask so much as how she was feeling, Kirsty would lie through her teeth to persuade her everything was as it should be.

Same as always.

* * *

><p>Adam was starting to get very frustrated. Kirsty could claim that Warren was no longer beating her a hundred, a thousand, a <em>million<em> times; she could even swear it on her daughter's life and he still wouldn't believe her. He'd had a couple of fleeting glimpses of bruises on her arms when the sleeves of her shirt got caught on something, he couldn't help but notice all the hushed phone calls she seemed to be taking, and Tess had even had pulled him aside to ask if he had any idea of what was going on with her.

"I'd ask her myself, but we haven't always seen eye to eye with each other." She'd said grimly. "I doubt she'd open up to me, but I know that she's pretty close to you. I just thought I'd ask if she's told you anything I should be aware of?" The look of apprehension in her dark brown eyes penetrated Adam's, making him feel guilty for lying to her. But after reluctantly denying having any knowledge of Kirsty having problems at home, Adam promised Tess that he would keep an eye on her- while at the same time, promising himself that he would double his efforts to get the truth out of his friend.

"Hey, Kirsty!" Adam called as he saw the nurse heading for the staffroom. She groaned inwardly. _Not again... _She felt bad for treating Adam with such a cold demeanour when all he was trying to do was be nice and supportive, but the last time he'd tried to comfort her, it'd had disastrous consequences for her. Kirsty flinched at the painful memory of what her husband had done to her once he'd been discharged from the hospital.

"_You've been sleeping with 'im, haven't yer?" Warren had roared right in her face. She'd cowered under his grasp, sobbing and begging him to let go; Nita was just upstairs._

"_No!" She insisted. "I love **you**!" He let out a snort. _

"_Yeah, right! Well I hope it was worth it, because after what I'm gonna do to yer you're never gonna want to see him again!" She'd closed her eyes, a few more tears slipping through the defences. She'd begged, pleaded, prayed, and now  
>she was about to bleed. <em>

"Yeah, Adam?" She replied weakly, a hint of irritation lingering in her voice. He looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Look, I've just had a word with Tess, and-" She cut him off as panic started to rise in her stomach.

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing, I-"

"You didn't tell her anything did you? I've told you so many times, _nothing _is happening with Warren!"

"Kirsty!" His voice was louder and sharper this time. She jumped slightly as he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I would _never _do that to you. Tess just wanted to know if you'd said anything to me about having problems."

"Problems? What problems?" He sighed.

"She's worried about you, Kirst. You may not have realised it but lots of people have noticed how strangely you've been acting recently." _Then why didn't anyone say anything? _She asked herself, the reality of it all tasting bitter in her mouth.

"But you didn't tell her anything?"

"No, of course not. Anyway, why are you still worried about it? If Warren really _has _changed then surely it wouldn't matter if they knew or not?" For a few minutes, Kirsty's mouth hung open and the look on her face suggested she was about to make a confession. Adam waited with baited breath.

"Because it still matters to me! It's just..." She looked down at the floor, eyes sparkling with tears. "I can't stand the thought of being thought of as a battered wife. It's demeaning, and it's not me! Okay?" He nodded silently, accepting her wishes but still not entirely convinced. Disappointment flooded through his bloodstream; he really had thought that she was about to tell him the truth.  
>As she turned to walk away, Kirsty heard a little voice at the back of her mind.<br>_Liar. If you're not a battered wife, what are you? _

Even as she turned her back on him, Adam could not help but notice the solitary tear that trickled down her cheek, leaving a silvery path for many more to follow in.

* * *

><p><em>I will be the one that's gonna hold you,<em>

_I will be the one that you will run to,_

_My love is a burning,_

_Consuming fire..._

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: And yet again I fail with the one-shot thing. Never mind, eh?  
>If you guys want me to continue, you're gonna have to review :D Sure, alert it if you want, but there's no point in doing that if you're not gonna leave me a couple of sentences with it. I know it can be annoying when people threaten not to continue without a certain amount of reviews, but I haven't really got time to be wasting on people who aren't grateful for it. So yeah, lemme know if you think it's good, crap, worth continuing, and while you're at it, what's your favourite colour?<strong>_

_**Anyway, cheers for reading! Song is 'Whispers in the Dark' by my favourite ever band, Skillet :D I think it suits Adam and Kirsty perfectly.**_

_**Oh, and I know that in an episode a few weeks ago (just after Warren's death), Kirsty asked Adam not to mention anything about the abuse because she didn't want to be seen as a battered wife, but technically seeing as Warren didn't die in this then I haven't stolen it (:**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two**

_No! You'll never be alone!_

_When darkness comes, _

_I'll light the night with stars,_

_Hear my whispers in the dark!_

* * *

><p>She curled herself up as small as she could, cold water from the shower helping to soothe the painful bruises that were beginning to develop all over her body. She touched a hand to her neck, where there were marks from where Warren had choked her until she thought she would pass out, and shuddered as she relived the moment.<p>

_She coughed and spluttered as her husband, kneeling on her stomach to pin her to the floor, wrapped his hands around her neck and applied just enough pressure for her to find that she was unable to breathe. _

"_Please!" She tried to say, but the only sound that left her lips was a horribly choked and rasping noise. Warren just laughed, a cruel smile lingering on his lips. _

"_But yer wish you hadn't left your mobile here today now, don't yer?" Kirsty had taken Nita shopping earlier in the day, and had accidentally left her mobile at home, lying on her bedside table. It hadn't even been switched on at the time.  
>After dropping her daughter off at a friend's house where she was to spend the night, Kirsty returned home to find that her furious husband had turned her phone on and had been looking through all the text messages she couldn't bring herself to delete. Most were from a worried Adam, telling her that he was always there for her, if she needed anything. This, of course, drove Warren into one of his rages, which had ultimately ended in his nearly strangling his wife to death.<br>Everything was starting to go black, light was dissolving into darkness, and she had long ago gone limp, having no energy to struggle anymore. But just as she was about to pass out, he released his hold on her, and shuffled from the room, leaving his choking and spluttering wife on the bedroom floor. _

Only when she unable to control her shivering, brought on by the cold temperature of the water, did Kirsty force herself to stand and get out of the shower. She very gingerly wrapped a towel around her brutalised form, wincing despite her attempts to be careful around the injured areas of her body. She ached, _everywhere_, and a few tears dribbled down her cheeks, now washed clean of the dried blood that had dramatically contrasted with her ashen skin.

_He punched her, again. She felt blood spurt from her nose, and quickly closed her mouth to avoid blood getting into her mouth. But then, after a particularly hard blow to her stomach, she gasped, and immediately the sickening and coppery taste of the crimson liquid engulfed her taste buds._

Kirsty sniffed, and began to get dressed into a loose t-shirt and a pair of grey joggers. She tried to avoid looking at the marks, but it was no easy feat considering that they covered the majority of her body. She turned to look in the mirror, and bit her lip as she saw the very noticeable bruises on one side of her face, one of them already starting to turn a nasty bluish-purple colour around the edges. Fresh tear tracks stood out on both sides of her face, and she couldn't help but think that she would be the perfect poster child for a domestic violence campaign.  
>After taking a big, gulping breath to steady herself, Kirsty turned her thoughts to work. She could either call in sick and be forced to spend even <em>more <em>time with her violent husband, or go into work with the possibility of having her secret exposed.  
>She inspected the bruises closely. <em>Maybe I can cover them with make up. <em>She thought to herself. She had acquired a stock of cover up and concealer after she realised that she couldn't rely on her unpredictable husband to not leave marks on her skin in places where others could see them. Sighing, Kirsty hoped with all her might that make up would cover it, because _nothing _could make her stay at home all day with a man who enjoyed using her as his personal punching bag.

* * *

><p>"You're up early." Kirsty looked up from where she was making herself a mug of coffee. Warren limped into the kitchen, and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek. She flinched. "What's the matter?" He asked, seemingly undecided on whether to look angry or not.<p>

"Sorry." She mumbled, letting him kiss her again. His eyes lingered on the bruises along the side of her face for a moment- she hadn't yet covered them up, and they looked a lot worse then they had yesterday. For a moment, she thought she'd seen a trace of guilt in his pale eyes, but she quickly dismissed it. If he _did _feel guilty about beating her, then why did he continue to do it?

"You going into work today?" She pretended to take a sip of coffee, if only to buy her some time before she answered. In actual fact, the drink was boiling hot and would have burned her tongue had she really taken a mouthful.

"Yeah. One of the other nurses is on holiday at the moment, so they'll already be short staffed today." She thought about Mads celebrating her brother's wedding back in Pakistan, and for a split second she wished they could change places. _No! _She berated herself. _Why should Mads have to go through all this? She's a good person. _

What crime could a person commit to deserve so much abuse? Sometimes Kirsty would find herself pondering that very thought, and for hours at a time too.

What thoughts did Warren use to justify the way he treated her? His suspicions of Kirsty having an affair? Her reluctance to believe that he was actually ill, and not just pretending?  
>Whatever it was, it appeared to be doing the trick. As he settled down with a glass of water and some medication to control his pain -medication that, at that point, would have helped his wife more than him-, his eyes did not betray him feeling any emotion such as guilt or remorse, but merely contentedness and satisfaction.<p>

* * *

><p>Just an hour into her shift, and Kirsty was already feeling drained. It was hard enough keeping up with all the requirements that came from working in an ED, but also trying to compromise the way she went about doing her duties to the injuries she'd sustained without anybody noticing was proving to be a very difficult task.<p>

She and Zoe were attempting to calm down a rather aggressive (and very drunk) man in his thirties when he began fiddling with the IV in the back of his hand, twisting the cannula and trying to pull it out.

"Mr. Henderson, you need to keep that in!" Zoe chided their intoxicated patient.

"No!" He shouted, swinging an arm out at Kirsty, who had been trying without great success to take a blood sample. Luckily, she managed to catch him by the wrist before he struck her, but it was at that moment that the cannula in his hand became loose and splattered both Kirsty and her pale blue scrubs in crimson blood. Not a great look.  
>She looked up at Doctor Hanna, who was obviously trying very hard not to burst out laughing.<p>

"Well, at least _someone _finds this amusing." She said begrudgingly, a reluctant smile trailing over her lips. Zoe shook her head, grinning back at Kirsty.

"No one can ever say that working in A&E is boring." She laughed. "Go on, go get cleaned up. I'll take it from here." The blood spattered nurse nodded gratefully. She could do with a break; it hadn't exactly been the calmest of shifts.

After making sure that the staff toilets were empty, Kirsty slipped in and adorned a fresh pair of clean scrubs, and splashed some water on her face to wash her patient's blood off. As anyone would have expected, her make up had also been wiped off, so she searched through her bag for the cover up she was _sure _she'd picked up that morning. Or had she?

"Oh, no..." She groaned as the realisation hit her like a tonne of bricks. She had been about to put the cosmetic items inside her bag when the doorbell rang; the postman wanting her to sign for a package. She'd taken the handbag with her to the door, but not the make up.  
>So she'd <em>left them on the side of the bathtub.<br>_A growing sense of panic welled up inside Kirsty's body as she looked back up at the mirror hanging above the sink. There was no way she'd be able to pass this off as an accident, the result of clumsiness if a fall. Grabbing the bloodied pair of scrubs and slinging the bag over her shoulder, she placed a still slightly damp hand over the bruised side of her face, covering the majority of the marks. This included a particularly nasty looking one around her left eye that made it obvious she'd been punched. She was beginning to feel extremely glad that Adam wasn't in today. She didn't particularly fancy running to him for advice.  
>Praying that nobody would see her leaving- or the uncovered bruises on her neck for that matter, Kirsty slid from the toilets, casting a quick glance around her.<p>

"Kirsty?" _Oh God. Jay. Why didn't you check __**before **__you left the bathroom? _The male nurse smiled at her as he sauntered over to where she was standing, but his usually relaxed expression turned to one of confusion as he took in his friend's appearance. "Hey, what's the matter?" He tried to prise Kirsty's hand from her face, but she resisted, instead seizing him by the wrist and pulling him along the corridor and through a pair of double doors to the empty stairwell.

"Jay, I need a _massive _favour." She began, hand still resolutely shielding her battered and beaten face.

"Kirsty, what's going on here?"

"Your shift ends soon, right?"

"Yeah, in about five minutes, but-"

"I need make up." She blurted out. Jay did a double take.

"Make up? Kirsty... What're you hiding? C'mon, you can tell me!" Kirsty sighed. It looked as though she'd either have to fabricate an excuse in the next ten seconds, or just tell him the truth.

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Kirsty, what-"

"Promise me!" Her voice was beginning to take on a tone of sheer panic.

"Okay! Okay, I promise!" Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hand away from her face. Jay's eyes widened in shock as he took in the bruises. They were all deep blue and purple in colour, and thoroughly unpleasant looking. He stretched out a finger, and very gently ran it down the length of the one that framed her left eye. Kirsty flinched at his touch, no matter how gentle he tried to be.

"Kirst, who did this to you?" She shook her head, knowing she wasn't quite ready to give him all the information yet,

"Please don't ask me any questions." She begged, as he continued to stare at her in disbelief. "Look, I need you to get me something to hide all this." She got straight to the point, indicating the bruises with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, Kirsty..." He put his hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes, Biting her lip, Kirsty steeled herself. _Don't you cry, don't you __**dare **__cry... _She thought the same words over and over again, hoping with all her might that the more she repeated it in her head, the more likely she was to keep control of herself.  
>Naturally, the elements of her wishful thinking crumbled and dissolved the moment she looked up into his warm and comforting eyes, full to the brink with concern and solicitude. Jay pulled her into a hug, rubbing her back in small circles and allowing her to sob into his scrub top.<br>"Shh..." He soothed. "Hey, it's okay... I'll go get you that make up, yeah? And I'll come straight back afterwards. Maybe once your shift's finished we can go grab some coffee and have a chat, hm? You look like you could use a drink." She nodded tearfully.

"Thank you, Jay..." Kirsty's voice wobbled as she spoke.  
>If she was completely honest, talking was the last thing she felt like doing. But seeing as Jay was doing her such a big favour, it would hardly be fair on him if she refused.<br>Besides, it might do her some good to talk to someone other than Adam.

* * *

><p>Jay was confused. Ever since she'd come to work at the hospital, Kirsty had been a beacon of life and light- Compassion, kindness, and a good sense of humour being just a few of her many virtues. She'd even remained strong during the time that it seemed her husband was going to die. Four months after that and Jay could still picture her sitting in rhesus with an expression fixed with resoluteness on her face, as though using all the energy she could be wasting through crying and channelling it into her husband's healing body.<p>

Although Jay didn't know Warren that well, he'd seemed like a decent man. Surely he hadn't been the one to hurt her so badly?  
><em>Then again, <em>Jay thought to himself. _Looks __**can **__be deceiving._

After dropping off a whole carrier bag of assorted cosmetic products -he hadn't been sure which skin tones was closest to Kirsty's- to his extremely grateful friend, Jay stopped by the psychiatric ward. He was greeted by Charlie, his demeanour as friendly as always.

"It's good to see you, Jay. Are you looking for Ruth?" He shook his head and cleared his throat, already feeling guilty for what he was about to do.

"No, not today. Actually Charlie, I was wondering if I could have a word with you?" The older nurse nodded, and after casting a glance around them he showed Jay into his office, told him to take a seat and shut the door behind them.

* * *

><p>"Here you go." Jay set a pint of ice cold beer down on the bar in front of Kirsty, who tried to force a smile.<p>

"Thanks." She looked around the pub. It wasn't the bar where the Emergency Department staff would normally head to after work for a couple of drinks, but Jay didn't think that Kirsty would want to talk about a personal matter if any of their colleagues were around. For a few minutes, neither of them said anything. He watched his fellow nurse raise the pint glass to her lips, before setting it down again before even taking a sip.

"Were you alright after you covered those up again?" He said, nodding towards the bruising.

"Yeah. Well, apart from Tess chewing me out after I finally left the women's toilets I mean." She tried to smile again, this time a better attempt gracing her lips. "Listen, thanks again for doing that... I don't know what I'd have done without you." Jay returned her smile.

"Anytime. And I really mean that, okay? If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here for you." Her expression faltered slightly.

"You sound like Adam." She sighed, immediately looking as though she regretted saying the words the moment they left her mouth.

"What? You mean he knows?" She bit her lip nervously.

"Well... Kind of. He doesn't know it's still happening though... Although he's trying to get me to admit it is." Jay swallowed a mouthful of alcohol.

"So it's been goin' on a while then?" She shrugged.

"Mmm... You won't tell him you know, will you?" Her voice suddenly became fearful.

"Not if you don't want me to. But you know, he'll help you." She shook her head, and the next few minutes were spent in silence.  
>"It's your husband, isn't it?" Her head snapped up from where she had been staring at her drink, and she looked alarmed.<p>

"What?"

"The one who's been beating you up. It's your husband, right?" Shaking her head again, she looked away again. She had gone pale, and for a fleeting moment Jay thought she was going to throw up.

"No! Listen, I've gotta go..." She pulled a couple of notes from her purse, and pressed them into Jay's resisting hand. "Thank you, Jay. See you tomorrow, yeah?"

He thought about grabbing her wrist and telling her to stay, that if she wanted she could stay at his for the night then she was welcome to.  
>But he didn't. He watched her leave, his fingers curling over the notes in his hand until they were crumpled in his tightened fist.<p>

How do you save someone who doesn't want saving?

* * *

><p><em>No! You'll never be alone!<em>

_When darkness comes, _

_You know I'm never far, _

_Hear my whispers in the dark!_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Well, we've progressed a little bit (: Plus I've posted this chapter a little earlier then I was going to, but try not to get used to regular updating. I will try and stick to a deadline though.  
>In the next chapter, I'm hoping that (while the overall chapter might not be longer than the previous two) it will have more content in it.<br>But anyway... Ooh, Jay knows ;D I really hope the way he found out wasn't too crappy... I was trying to think of ways in which he could find out, and this one seemed... Feasible.  
>I've read a couple of other fics on here where Jay is one of the first people to find out, and I wasn't trying to copy (: I actually rolled a dice to figure out who it would be who found out first. 'Cept Adam, obviously.<br>Anyway, if you'd like me to update, leave me a review :D Which a lot of you did for chapter two, so thank you all for that :D  
>Ta for reading!<br>Random question of the chapter: If your favourite character (don't forget to say who it is) was leaving the show, how would you want them to go?**_


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everyone. Before you get excited, this isn't Kaia. I'm Ely, her best friend. Well, one of them (the other being 'Your Worst Nightmare -x-', a really lovely person and a talented writer).  
>If you know Kaia personally, or have even read her profile, then you will know that she suffers from Huntington's Chorea, which is a genetic and progressive illness.<p>

Anyway, she's gotten worse recently, and the last couple of days she's been in hospital and neither me or Erin (Nightmare) really know what's going on with that.  
>She's still getting reviews on her stories though, and I thought it might be a good idea to let you know why she won't be updating for a while…<p>

So please leave a review for her telling her how much she means to you (even if you don't really know her) because if… _When_ she gets out it'd be nice for her to be able to read all the messages, yeah? It would mean a lot to all of us.

Even if it's only for a couple of minutes, a couple of seconds even, please hold her in your thoughts today. Because we really want her to get better, Erin and I, and I'm sure you do too.

Thank you

Oh, and sorry if I spell some things wrong… Spell check on Microsoft Word 2010 seems to be a little fucked up.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone.

I know you expected this to be a long chapter with many apologies and half-hearted excuses but it isn't. There's nothing fake about this.

Kaia A'ala Rhea Lombardi passed away on Friday the 22nd July at 3:22 am with her son and brother in her arms. I know she promised to try and finish these but she never did, and there were no documents on her computer

I hope you see this as Kaia's goodbye and also just an informative, but Kaia didn't really leave us with instructions with what to do when she left, we knew it was coming but we never asked her what to do with her fics. It crossed my mind that we should continue them but only briefly, it would be an insult to her talent.

Well, here it is then. The last chapter of any of Kaia's stories ever, unless her laptop harbours some documents, but she spent her last weeks in palliative care, saying goodbye to her friends and declining treatment

She was an inspiration and a perfect friend to everyone who ever met her, she always had a bright outlook, whether it was her brother and his goldfish obsession or telling us that one of her doctor's was really hot.

This is Erin and Ely, signing off for Kaia for one last time.

We won't deactivate this account, but there will be no more updates. All reviews and alerts go to Ely now and we'll appreciate every message of comfort we may receive because knowing Kaia and then losing her hurts more than it's imaginable

Good luck with your own writing, and… goodbye.

Ely and Erin


End file.
